Runaway Rose King
by FishInAFadora
Summary: Their home is under attack. The Boggans are hunting for the mysterious rose that has attached itself to Nod's arm. He, M.K., and their friends flee for their lives, hoping against hope that Ronin will ward off the siege on Moonhaven and they'll find the missing queen. Somehow, they have to unlock the secrets of the King's rose before the new Boggan leader does it for them.
1. Refuge For The Weary

**Here it is people. The sequel you've all waited for. Whats going to happen to our heroes this time?**

**Disclaimer: this thing is really not necessary and im not going to type it every chapter but I dont own epic**

* * *

Sleep.

It's all that he wanted. More than anything else in the world. He wanted it even more than a kiss good night from M.K.

Well, maybe that's going to far, but it didn't make him desire it any less. Nod was completely and utterly exhausted, drained of all strength and it was only the stirrups and M.K. that kept him from falling out of the saddle. Flitterbite, his blue jay, did most of the flying and had the sense to keep from doing any aerial twists or rolls.

_The flight to M.K.'s house shouldn't be this long,_ he thought. _Did we go in the wrong direction?_ Then his eyes closed even further, the darkness brimming around his vision. It didn't matter whether he was in the air or in a Stomper house. _He was going to sleep._

To Nod it may have felt like hours but that was his tired mind screwing with his internal clock. In fact, it had only been five minutes.

"Come on Nod, you have stay with me!" M.K. encouraged him. She could see the lights getting closer. Lights that promised them safety, rest, and _some food._ Her stomach grumbled at the thought. She hadn't eaten anything since that morning, and too many things were happening at once for her to notice how famished she was.

She noticed that her boyfriend was not responding to her. In fact he was snoring! "Uh, Nod? You need to stay awake. I don't know how to land this thing!"

Over the year they had video chatted and met in the forest, and Nod taught her everything he knew about birds and how to fly them. He told her every sort of signal you could give them using just your legs, and had demonstrated how to take off, turn, fly up or down and land. But doing the feat and being told how to by the expert were two completely different things!

M.K. nudged Nod, trying to rouse him. She called his name several times but to no avail. _Well, there goes the gentle approach. _She leaned over and started slapping his face repeatedly. "Nod, get up!"

It worked and he woke up with a start. Shaking his head to clear it, he stared at her with bleary brown eyes. "What?..."

"We're going to miss my house if you don't steer this guy to it!"

That seem to shake him out of it. Nod temporarily shook off the sleepiness and grasped Flitterbite's neck feathers. The bird cocked his head and waited for the command. Nod leaned forward, pushing his chest against the blue jay's body. His mount responded and went into a gentle, sloping stoop, pulling his wings in. In his peripheral vision, the rider could make out the dark forms of his friends' birds following him down.

The house loomed like a mountain, and Nod pulled Flit into a hover, trying to spot an opening. M.K. pointed to the side. "There! My Dad always keeps the study's window open until he's gone to sleep."

Nod gently heeled Flitterbite and they swooped to the open window. They were about to land on the windowsill when Flit suddenly veered away and flew back for the trees.

"Whoa, buddy, what's going on?" he asked his mount. Nod was able to pull Flit into a hover. He glanced to the house to see his friends were having similar problems. Ross and Thryn were repeatedly circling back to land on the windowsill, but their birds kept refusing and flying away.

"Oh I see," Nod said as it dawned on him. "They're scared of the Stompers that may be inside. There's no way we'll get them in the house. Is there another entrance to a more secluded room?"

M.K.'s eyes darted around the exterior of the house, before lighting on a small, slotted window near the roof's edge. She pointed to it. "That leads to the attic; you can't get more secluded in my house than that dusty old place!"

"Guys!" Nod called to his friends. They paused in their futile efforts to land their birds. "Follow me, we found another way!"

Nod turned Flitterbite in the direction M.K. had indicated. The window was covered by wide slats but one had broken off and listed to the side, making a perfect opening for them. It was utterly dark inside and Nod didn't want to land with those conditions.

"There should be a beam right below the window," M.K. explained.

Nod didn't like it but what choice did he have? He kicked lightly on Flit's sides and the bird hesitated before flying in. Nod leaned forward as the black consumed them. He relaxed his legs to let his blue jay use his senses to guide them in the darkness. The young Leafman couldn't even see his hand in front of his face, but he felt his center of gravity plummet as Flit landed. The clicks of talons on wood around him meant his friends had found their way in. Sterling's buzzing ceased.

With the darkness all around him, Nod was reminded of how tired he was. Exhaustion hit him like a ton of trees, and he slumped forward and nuzzled Flit's neck feathers. _He was done..._

There was a flick and a spark of light jumped out of the black and began to glow profusely. Lex had lit a small lantern, illuminating the faces of the teenagers. Their birds were perched in a line on the beam, looking ready to rest and preen.

"We can set up our beds here," M.K. suggested. "Then we can get downstairs and my Dad can give us some food. Nod, do you want to-" she trailed off when she saw he was already soundly asleep. He must have been really tired if he couldn't even get off his bird and unroll his sleeping bag.

"Nope!" Mason chuckled. "There's no waking him up."

M.K. smiled, "I guess we should all get some sleep. We can see my Dad tomorrow."

They relieved their birds of their saddles and bridles, and laid out their bed rolls on the beam. With Ross's help, he and M.K. carried the exhausted Nod to a sleeping bag. M.K. took care of Flit since she and Nod were the only ones he would let near him.

"I'll take first watch," Ross offered. "Mason, I'll wake you up in two and a half hours, then Thryn and Lex after you."

The others agreed but M.K. couldn't help but notice that he didn't include her or Jason in the roster. She bit her lip, thinking it over a little before shrugging, exasperated with herself. It was too petty to question, and anyway, she was tired and would probably be the sleepiest sentry they could ask for.

The redhead looked one last time at Nod, who was sleeping soundly. M.K. smoothed back some of the hair from his face and quickly glanced behind her. They all had their backs too them. The girl leaned down and gave the young Leafman a quick peck on the cheek then made her way back to her bedroll.

M.K. laid down and tucked the blanket around her. The beam was hard and unforgiving but she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep...

* * *

**again, ive started with a short, first chapter...a bad habit i have. unfortunately i cannot make up for it because in two days im going on a week long beach trip. my self made rule for trips is to not bring my laptop and there probably wont be wifi anyway. you can expect the next chapter to come out next saturday or sunday.**

**im still working on Just Like You, so dont worry, but it may have to be placed on the back burner for a bit.**


	2. Sharing Is Caring

Nod was waking up very slowly. When he began to return to consciousness, his hearing came first. There wasn't much to hear though; just shuffles and slight snoring noises. Somehow, he gained the energy to open his eyes, but his vision was blurry. He didn't have the strength to panic, so he waited. Eventually, his sight sharpened and cleared.

A giant, sloping roof above him. Beams of sunlight streamed from the cracks of the slated window, dust dancing in the light. Except for that, it was mostly dark. He felt an ache in his shoulder blades from lying on hard wood all night. The scrape of claws on wood turned his head, and he beheld a bright-eyed and perky blue jay. _Your blue jay,_ he reminded himself.

Nod rolled over and raised himself up, agonizing from his stiff muscles. Someone had been considerate enough to put him in his bed roll, but he wondered if sleeping in Flitterbite's saddle would have been more comfortable.

Last night's events hit him like a bursting beaver dam. M.K. coming back to Moonhaven, the Boggans invading, leaving Ronin, losing Cricket, and stealing Bufo's birds. His heart felt like an empty shell that could easily crumple. He should have cried when he lost his lovable sparrow but he'd held it in, thinking that he needed to keep it together, that he could shed tears later. Just thinking back to how his bird threw himself in front of him and M.K. made his eyes itch. M.K. could have died but Cricket did instead. He abandoned Ronin to fight the Boggans by himself, and the bringers of Rot were out for his head (or technically his arm) and he still had to take care of the rose, keep it safe, keep his friends safe, keep M.K. safe...

God, the fear, guilt, responsibility, and expectations were weighing him down and overwhelming his being. A few tears leaked out between his closed eyelids. His shoulders shook in silent sobs. A part of him was worried about being discovered by his friends in this sorry state; the rest was too shaken to care.

A warm hand suddenly rested on his leg. He looked up and noticed for the first time, M.K. was lying next to him, curled up in a blanket. Her sleepy green eyes were filled with worry for him. Nod wiped at his cheeks, feeling his ears grow red and hot. She had never seen him cry, not even in Wrathwood when he thought Ronin had been killed by Mandrake's army.

"It's alright, you know," she whispered before he could say anything. "I was a wreck when my mother died. But you can't hold it in; it's not healthy."

"I just don't know what to do," he said, his voice raspy.

M.K. sat up, wincing from her aching muscles that had spent the night on wood. She smoothed down her hair and stretched her slim arms. "First thing to do is drink some water. You sound like a desert."

Nod snorted but immediately felt a bit better. Leave to M.K. to shake him out of his misery.

"Everything will work itself out," she said, smiling a little. "You'll see." She handed him a canteen, and Nod took a deep sip. He drank every last drop of water, feeling refreshed with every gulp. It felt like he was washing away the fear and sorrow.

As he did, the rose rustled like it was awakening from a slumber. It raised its head towards the beams of light above them. Nod sighed. He and his pals were on the run, hiding like fugitives, and he still had to take care of the rose like it was a pet. _On the bright side,_ he thought. _At least Mub and Grub aren't here to make me eat that plant gunk._

"I'll wake up the others," M.K. said, kicking off the blankets and standing up. "Meet us downstairs when you're ready. Think you know your way around the house?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I know every mouse tunnel in the walls from all those times I sneaked in." Nod grinned mischievously.

"You know I hate being woken up early," she growled, punching him in the shoulder. "But you made up for it with the flowers."

M.K. left to wake up the group, and Nod began his climb to the attic window for the rose's morning bask. The conversation had lifted his spirits until they were as light as his steps. He still held uncertainty and fear of the future, but it was tempered by the hope and company M.K. had given him.

* * *

The professor received a call yesterday around noon from Detective Sullivan. He thought it was about the case on his house, but instead he was told that his daughter had been reported missing that afternoon. Two of her friends had filed the report. The detective said she was last seen at her high school's soccer field. She had ran into the forest in the middle of a soccer match. Jason Hale followed her in five minutes later, and he too had not been seen since.

Instantly, Bomba knew where M.K. was, but he played the worried, frantic father for the detective. He knew that by now, she must be with the Leafmen. So he sat down in front of the computer screens that still worked, with coffee and some food, and waited for M.K. to show up and explain herself, impatiently tapping his fingers, jittery as a caffeinated squirrel.

The anxiety increased as the day wore on and she didn't come. When night fell, he was tempted to go to bed and try again tomorrow. Yet he made himself stay, determined to be there when M.K. did show up or at least a Leafman that he could talk to. His cameras were switched to the night vision feature and he waited, going through three more cups of coffee.

Sometime in the early hours, his eyes drifted closed against his will and he snoozed. That was how M.K. found him the next morning. She had woken up with the others and had led them downstairs.

It took a while, being tiny in a big house, but they made it to the study. Luckily, Ozzie didn't wake up from his bed. M.K. noticed that the house still needed cleaning up from the mess of the robbers who had broken in.

Now they stood on the desk, staring at her giant father with something close to awestruck. Sterling flew around his slumbering figure, inspecting him from every angle. The young warriors had probably never been this close to a Stomper. For Jason, this was one huge perspective change.

"Wow...they're a lot bigger up close," Thryn muttered.

"How are we supposed to wake him up?" Mason asked.

Bomba's snores were low and long, and it reminded M.K. of an earthquake. Shouting at him wasn't going to do any good. She looked around for an idea, and saw that Lex had her bow and quiver of arrows.

She bit her lip then posed the question. "Lex, could you shoot an arrow at him?"

The grasshopper girl looked horrified. "At your dad?!"

"Just in the shoulder or something," M.K. clarified. "It won't kill him, and I don't know what else to do."

Lex seem to think about it for a moment, then shrugged like she didn't have a better idea either. "Okay, if you say so." She slipped her bow from her back and nocked an arrow.

"Just don't miss," Mason added as she lifted and drew back the string to her cheek.

"Lex never misses," Ross corrected. The girl smiled at him, aimed her arrow, and let it fly.

The result was more than M.K. had hoped for. The little projectile hit her father in the shoulder, and the prick was enough to jolt Bomba awake. The professor jumped from his chair, yowling in surprise at the sudden pain, even though it was tiny. Sterling sped out of range of his flailing arms. Ozzie lept awake at the commotion and started barking. Bomba whipped his confused green eyes around, trying to find what violently woke him up. He spotted tiny figures on his desk, jumping and waving at him. Clumsily, he strapped on his helmet and adjusted the magnifying glasses.

"M.K.?!" he shouted when he saw his daughter. She was wearing Jinn clothes from the looks of it, and stood with five other teenagers and a dragonfly. "Are you alright?! Where have you been ?! I've been waiting for yo for hours! Did the Queen shrink you again? Who are these other-"

"Dad!" she yelled, interrupting his train of questions. "Don't shout like that, it hurts our ears! I'm okay. Yeah, Ariel shrunk me and Jason-"

_"Hale?!"_

"Hi professor," Jason came into his view and waved.

"And these are my friends, Ross, Mason, Lex, and Thryn. Oh, and Sterling," M.K. introduced them.

"Well uh...nice to meet you."

"Dad, I'm sure you have a bunch of questions but we're all kinda hungry."

A blank look came over his face before he shook it in realization. "Oh, yes, of course! I'll get you some food and then we can talk." He bustled to the kitchen, tripping over books that were still strewn on the floor.

In seconds, he came back with an armful of random food. A loaf of bread, two apples, a wedge of cheese, and slices of lunch meat ham. The food was gargantuan sized, and one apple rolled and nearly took out Mason. "I hope that's enough," Bomba stuttered. "Oh wait, of course it is, your tiny and...well...I hope you like it. I'll just slice up the apples."

They broke off bits of the bread and cheese, the latter being quite tasty to the forest dwellers, having never tried it before. When they tried the ham, they all started gagging.

"Are you guys strictly vegetarians?" Jason asked as he chewed his piece of bread.

"Well, not all the time," Mason choked. "We hunt squirrels and chipmunks for our meat and the occasional vole, but whatever this is, it is not meat."

Jason glanced at the soggy ham slices and shrugged in agreement. If it went through a factory, then it was mostly made up of chemicals and additives. After that episode, they stuck with the apples and bread.

M.K. recounted everything to her father, bringing him up to speed on what had happened. Bomba started pacing when he heard of the Boggan's attack on Moonhaven. "Maybe we should go up there and check," he suggested.

"I don't think that's safe Dad," M.K. replied. "We shouldn't worry though. With Ronin in command, Moonhaven will be fine."

"But without the Queen, how will the forest regrow and how will you come home?"

M.K. shrugged. "We'll just have to find Ariel ourselves."

"At least she's not in Moonhaven at the moment," Thryn added. She frowned in contemplation. "Funny how she disappeared right before the Boggan attack...like she knew it was coming."

"How would she know that?" Ross questioned.

"Perhaps in the same way she knew about the coming of the rose," a voice said behind them. Nod was leaning against a jar, arms folded casually. "Tara may have warned her," he continued. "M.K., didn't the wind bird say that Tara sent it?"

"Yeah it did, but how could she do that?"

"Fascinating," Bomba said as he gazed through his helmet at Nod's rose. He adjusted the magnifying glass and leaned in to get a close up of the little flower. "It's roots are actually inside your arm..."

"Dad!" M.K. said sternly when she saw how uncomfortable Nod was. "Don't look at him like he's one of your dead bugs under a microscope."

Bomba backed up quickly. "Sorry, sorry! Sometimes the scientist in me gets carried away..."

"It's fine," Nod assured.

"Right well, I'll call Detective Sulliavan and tell her to stop looking for you M.K." Bomba said. "When you disappeared, I told the police you were an enthusiastic bird watcher and had probably saw an endangered woodpecker and ran into the forest to follow it."

"Oh man, my parents!" Jason groaned, face palming his forehead. "They'll be worried sick at this point! What am I supposed to tell them?"

Everybody was silent in thought. Then, the professor got a gleam in his eye and he grinned wildly. "I can solve that problem!" Bomba acclaimed.

He ran to his library and returned with a strange device. No doubt of his own invention. It seemed like a demonic combination of a microphone and a speaker horn, both attached to the ends of a box, with dials, buttons, and a screen. Bomba set it down on the table in front of Jason and beamed like a child.

"Um, Dad...what is this?"

"I invented it! I call it the diminished dimension audio manipulating communicator."

The tiny teenagers all gave him a look that said, "the what?"

Bomba was oblivious to their confusion. "Or you can call it by the acronym. The DDAMC!"

"What does it do?" Jason asked.

"It enhances and super-sizes your sound waves when you talk. You speak into the microphone here, and the box in the middle will make the sound waves louder and slow them down, and most importantly, it'll deepen your voice to what it sounded like when you were human-sized. Then, your words will come out the other end, sounding perfectly normal and the human ear can hear it!"

"When did you make this?" M.K. wondered, amazed that her father could create such a thing.

The professor smiled, pleased that his daughter was impressed. "I've been racking my brains on how to improve communication between us and the Jinn. I can hear you fine with my helmet, but you have to slow down your hearing to listen to me. It's not unlike the console I set up by the computers so you and Nod could video chat everyday."

M.K. face-palmed and Nod scratched the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. Both of them tried to ignore the snickers and giggles coming from their friends.

"I still don't know what to tell my mom and dad," Jason moaned, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"Well, that's for you to figure out," Bomba interjected. "I can only provide the means of communication. Why don't I take you to the phone and you can talk to your parents undisturbed." He held out his palm, inviting Jason to get on. The blonde shrugged and stepped on. Carrying Jason and the DDAMC, Bomba lumbered to the kitchen where the old, cord phone sat on the counter.

"What's the plan anyway?" Mason broke the silence. "I mean, what do we do now that we're here?"

"Simple," Lex answered, as she settled down on the table surface, crossing her legs. The others followed her example. "We wait for the Leafmen to beat back the Boggans, and for Ronin to send word that it's safe to come back."

"Assuming the Leafmen win," Thryn muttered gloomily.

Lex wanted to look on the brighter side of things. "I'm sure they can."

"I don't know, Lex, when we were flying out of there, I looked back and the horizon was dark. It was the middle of the day, but the flocks of grackles were blocking out the sun!"

"You didn't seem concerned at the time," Ross growled under his breath.

Thryn, of course, heard it and sent him a pointed glare. "We are trained to stay calm in those situations. Some of us take that training seriously."

Mason sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "For crying out loud, what's bitten you two? You're acting like two kids who can't share the building blocks!"

Neither of them responded, and they shifted their gaze to stare at the wooden table beneath them. M.K. nudged Nod with her elbow, gesticulating with her head at the group of friends. It was obvious that their current situation was beginning to affect them. They were all uncertain and fearful of the future. Thryn and Ross were snapping at each other out of frustration. Lex was being and quiet and even Mason had lost his sense of humor.

Nod caught her meaning and scanned his gaze over his friends. "Okay guys...we're going to play a game."

Everybody, including M.K., stared at him incredulously. "You're joking, right?" Ross asked.

"Nope. We need to take our minds off of our predicament and get to know each other," he explained. "I've come to realize that I don't know much about you guys' personal lives, and we all call each other friends."

M.K. could see they were all reluctant to do this, but there was agreement among them of the assessment. She wasn't so eager herself, but if getting to know Nod's friends made it less awkward then she was willing to do it.

"The rules are it has to be something personal, something you've never told anybody else. Like a dream, a hobby, or a childhood experience," he explained. "I'll go first."

The young Leafman thought for a minute before continuing, a smile playing at his lips. M.K. knew that smile; it meant mischief.

"When I was five, I put on Ronin's helmet and vest while he was visiting my parents. Then I rode away on his hummingbird and declared to anybody around that I was 'the great general Nod.'"

His friends and M.K. laughed when they pictured a naughty little boy wearing a helmet and vest that was way to big for him, and riding the stolen mount of the highest ranking Leafman in Moonhaven. Nod laughed right along with them, not at all embarrassed.

"You committed your first crime at age five!" Mason chortled.

"Ronin and my Dad ran after me for at least a mile before they finally caught me. Man, was I grounded! Gave my parents a heart attack. When I got older, it was the running joke of the family."

The laughter wore off and it felt like the tension had lifted away from the friends. Heavy steps came from the kitchen and Bomba walked back into the room and set Jason down on the table.

"How did it go?" Lex asked.

Jason visually winced. "I told them that after half-time, I bailed and went on a road trip with my friends from a different school. They were mad at first but they bought it."

"Sorry for getting you into trouble," M.K. apologized.

"Aw, it's not your fault we got shrunk by a mysterious force. I'm the golden boy in the family, so they won't stay mad for long. Can't say the same for my coach...he's probably livid."

"Well come and join us," M.K. said. "We're sharing stories with each other. Nod apparently pretended to be general for a whole day when he was five, which doesn't surprise me." The brunette flashed her a cheeky grin. She stuck out her tongue playfully.

"I'll go next," Lex volunteered enthusiastically. "I'm the youngest of seven brothers and seven sisters." The boys whistled in astonishment. "One time when I was ten, my whole family went to see a parade celebrating Queen Tara's birthday. In the crowd, I got lost, found another grasshopper family and went home with them. It was only when I wasn't at my house, did I realize that I followed the wrong family."

"Seriously? That's traumatic," Mason remarked. "But how could you not tell?"

"Have you ever seen two grasshopper Jinns stand next to each other? I'm not joking when I say that they can look almost exactly alike. After that, my mom made us wear matching shirts." They all snickered at the thought.

"Okay, my turn," Mason said. "In my spare time, I like to build bombs!"

Silence...

"Why does that not surprise me?" Nod muttered.

Jason look worried. "Should we be concerned?"

"No, of course not, it's not like I build them to hurt people! They're just for pranks. I can do smoke bombs, fire crackers, bangers, flare bombs, stink bombs-"

"We get it!" Ross interrupted.

"Well what do you have to share Mr. Sunshine?"

"Nothing. I'm not playing this stupid game," Ross stated, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Come on Ross, we won't judge you." Nod reassured.

"I don't have anything to share."

"Please Ross?" Lex pleaded, casting her big green-gold eyes on him.

For a moment, Ross didn't look like he was going to give in but Lex continued to stare at him with her eyes getting bigger and more puppy-like with every second. To M.K.'s surprise, she could see Ross struggling to maintain his stony scowl. Then he wavered and slumped his shoulder in defeat; Lex's Bambi eyes were too much for him.

"Fine." He thought for a moment, hesitated, then murmured something.

"What was that?" Nod prodded.

"I said," Ross spoke louder, with more conviction. "I like to write poetry."

Longer silence...

"Well..." Mason drawled. "That certainly wasn't my first guess."

Lex didn't waste anytime in asking Ross multiple questions about poetry, either because she was interested in his secret passion or just trying to distract him from strangling Mason. M.K. could tell that Mason had a dozen humorous jokes on the tip of his tongue and surprisingly, it was Thryn that was shooting him glares to keep his mouth shut. Jason joined the conversation, telling about the time he had to recite "The Highwayman" for a school play, not that the others even knew what that was.

While chattered, M.K. turned to Nod sitting next to her. "This is the best idea you've had so far."

Nod put his hand to his chest in mock hurt. "You wound me, milady! What about that time I demonstrated the back flip while riding Cricket?"

She punched his shoulder, laughing at the memory. "And you nearly missed and scared me half to death! Besides, you know it's pointless to try and impress me with moronic tricks."

"I can't help but keep you entertain," Nod consented. She felt his warm brown eyes on her skin and his face softened to something that looked akin to longing. "I missed you M.K."

The redhead tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and looked at her hands. "We see each other almost everyday."

"But it's not the same. Despite the circumstances, I'm really happy that you're here...with me."

M.K. met his gaze and smiled, nodding her head in agreement. "I missed you too, Nod. And I'm happy you're alright."

* * *

**REVIEW. NOW!**


	3. Flight of the Blight

**IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, I FEEL SO BAD!**

**every time i tried to edit it, something happened and it got all screwed up again, like the universe didnt want me to post. plus, i got distracted by watching Avatar the last airbender. sry but that show is worth it :3**

**Disclaimer: I dont own anything. But enjoy what i have given :)**

* * *

"So you think Boggans broke into your house...with the help of humans?"

Thryn's clarifying question echoed into silence. Nobody could believe M.K.'s claim; well nobody wanted to believe it but M.K. didn't look like the kind of person to make up stuff about this. That was Thyrn's impression at least. Ross's distrustful looks were not unnoticed, and she sensed that Mason had his doubts as well. Lex could go either way but she tended to be too trusting. Jason was an open book; he backed M.K. up on everything, even if he didn't know what it was.

Thryn was so busy thinking over everybody else, that she missed M.K.'s reply. _Crap, I'm doing it again! _Because of her reserved nature, she spent more time thinking about things instead of listening to things around her. It was her biggest problem in school. She'd daydream instead of paying attention, and the minute she came back to the 'real world,' she missed ten whole minutes of essential lecture and be totally lost.

She bit the inside of her cheek, an effective way to stay focused. It hadn't been a problem when she was with the Leafmen. All the superior officers _made sure_ you were listening to them. Now she was with people her own age. _Great, I'll start watching butterflies float by._

The conversation had moved on without her, and she pretended that she was thinking of something really important.

"Maybe some humans had discovered Boggans and they struck deals with them," Mason suggested.

"But doing dirty work for them? That's downright crazy!" Ross pointed out.

Nod turned back to M.K. "What would someone want from your house in the first place?"

"Leafmen research is all I can think of that has value...beside my phone." The red head got blank looks, except from Jason. Thryn started to wonder what a phone was before she caught herself and focused. "Maybe Boggans want to know more about you guys..."

"What do they not know?" Thryn said. "Unless Ronin told you all our military secrets and tactics, which I doubt he did."

"No, he didn't tell us. Probably for this exact reason."

"What would the humans get out of it anyway?" Ross muttered.

M.K. shook her head. "We can't keep throwing out questions we don't know the answers to. Let's just wait for Ronin to send word and relax. You guys got the whole house to explore if you want. Just stay out of my room and don't go on the floor, or Ozzie will eat you." The disfigured pub barked to confirm this, then started chasing a fly into the living room.

Bells chiming broke the silence like a sledgehammer to a window. Thryn jumped, despite herself. Following the bells came ringing, then after that blaring, then bird calls, barking, and booming noises.

"What is that?!" Thryn tried to shout over the din.

Bomba stumbled in and ran to the computers. He was everywhere at once, fingers dancing over various keyboards and eyes flicking from one screen to another.

"So much for relaxation," Nod muttered.

"Dad! What's going on?!"

Luckily, the professor had not taken his helmet off. "It's the motion alarms!"

M.K. rolled her eyes. "Obviously, but which ones?!"

"All of them!"

Suddenly, a screen went out and started blinking weird black and white dots that look like ants swarming over each other. Thryn's eyes hurt to look at it. The small teens jumped closer for a better look but was careful to stay out of the bumbling professor's way.

"Whatever it is, it has to be huge and numerous to trip them all at once!" Bomba exclaimed. Another screen flicker black and white, then a third. Thryn's eyes went to the fourth screen, and just before it was disconnected, she spot a body. It was large and black, but she didn't get a good look before the screen went out.

In the corner of her vision, something moved. Thryn's gray pupils flicked to the window and to the forest outside. She scanned the trees and foliage for anything. An increasing unease was running laps in her veins. On her shoulder, Sterling buzzed nervously.

"What is it?" Nod asked from beside her. The others followed her gaze.

The long, tangled grass that surrounded the house turned gray and withered. To her growing horror, Thryn watched as a young birch tree's leaves died and then the tree itself toppled over and crumbled to ashes. The blight spread through the grass, moss, trees, saplings, ferns, flowers, and thorns. Birds and squirrels fled as their home trees fell over and rotted. The thriving forest that surrounded the Radcliffe home for years withered away in seconds, the proud trees now lifeless husks, and gave way to a desolate wasteland.

"Oh my god..."

* * *

_**Yesterday, at Moonhaven.**_

General Ronin, legendary leader of the Leafmen, strode up to the topmost balcony of the hallowed rock structure. His hummer was ready, his armor was polished, his sword sharp, and his helmet and vest adorned. If the Boggans wanted a fight, he'd sure as hell give them one.

His blue eyes squinted as he adjusted to the sunlight. Finn was already on the lookout, peering through a spy glass at the invaders in the distance. He looked away when he heard Ronin's approach.

"Sir, the Bogs are still a long way off but they'll cover the distance pretty quickly," the red bearded Leafman reported.

"What's your estimate on the size of their army?" Ronin asked as he adjusted the spy glass and put it to his eye.

"The closest I can say is four hundred and fifty...maybe more." Ronin grunted in agreement when he saw the close up of the army. He expected to see a jumbling mass of grackles in an unorganized fashion, but was surprised to see the birds in tight, arrowhead formations. It was very similar to the Leafmens' own flying tactics. Ronin refocused, and the glass got bigger as it zoomed out, giving him a larger scope.

He mentally pat himself on the back for sending Nod away. No mattered how skilled his soldiers were, the boy and the rose couldn't be anywhere near this.

"Send the fliers," Ronin ordered. "Whatever happens, they cannot reach Moonhaven. Are all the civilians out?"

"Yes sir, all of them fled or were evacuated." Finn replied before telling the Leafwoman at the horn to sound the command. She blew two short notes and then a long note, over and over. Emerald flocks of hummingbirds took to the sky like one entity, their riders clad in green armor and brandishing their swords.

"Godspeed," the general whispered.

* * *

To Ronin, the fateful battle went on for hours but when in the midst of fighting, one can never tell exactly how much time had passed. Yet he wasn't fighting; he was watching and directing from afar. He issued orders to fight but he never joined in the combat himself. Ronin was just trained that way. All his predecessors did it; all his successors will do it.

It was times like these that he really hated being general.

The Leafmen on the hummers were holding out, but from his distance, Ronin couldn't tell. One minute it looked like the Boggans were pushing forward, then you see the Leafmen surge and push them back. Neither side seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

Then out of the blue, the cloud of black grackles retreated. The Boggans were fleeing; turning tail and running like rabbits! The Leafmen and women on their hummingbirds howled victorious war cries, convinced on their win.

Ronin smelled a rat.

"Call them back," Ronin said to Finn. The man's eyes widened.

"But sir, we have them on the run. We need to push them out of our territory, take the offensive-"

"Boggans don't randomly abandon a battle unless they're losing badly, and in case you were watching a different fight, they were not. I sense a trap. Call in the troops before my commanders out there get ahead of themselves."

"Right sir," Finn consented, seeing Ronin's reason. "You heard him!" he shouted to the Leafwoman. She filled her lungs with air and sounded a long note, a short one, then another long. Ronin grunted in satisfaction when the hummer flocks heeded the call and returned to base.

The first formation to make it back was led by Kane. As the troops landed and dismounted, Kane steered his hummer up to the balcony where Finn and Ronin perched. His hummingbird touched down lightly and the broad-shouldered man removed his helmet, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"They've retreated Ronin!" he exclaimed. "Now is the time to pursue and drive them out! What's the hold up?"

The general replied crisply, "My orders, that's the hold up."

Kane gestured in the direction where the battle had taken place. "This isn't the time to get nervous! You're giving them a chance to regroup and-"

"Enough," Ronin hissed and Kane immediately quieted. "The Boggans retreated too eagerly. They wanted you to follow! But whether it's a trap or not, I'm not sending my army to leave Moonhaven unguarded."

"We can have this all cleared up before nightfall if you would just-"

"How many of them were there?"

Kane's face twisted into an ugly scowl before replying. "It looked close to five hundred."

"And we have two hundred Leafmen, probably less now thanks to the battle. At this point, every man and woman count. I'm not risking it."

He could see that Kane wanted to argue further and opened his mouth to say so, but Ronin fixed the most deadliest look he could muster. Kane caught the steely glint in his eyes and closed his mouth. The man snarled like a frustrated wolf before stomping back to his bird and taking off.

Ronin shook his head in disappointment. "He's an excellent leader and tactician, but that temper of his..."

Finn nodded in agreement then asked, "Do you really think it's a trap?"

"Every instinct I have is ringing alarm bells. But whatever happens, the whole bloody affair did tell us one thing." Finn raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"The Boggans have a new leader. And whoever he is, he's good. Really good."

* * *

Night fell_._ The Boggans hadn't come back for another go, which served to make Ronin feel more uneasy. The Leafmen stood at the ready from their posts, with their eyes on the sky and foliage. With the absence of noise, some of the Jinn began to return, but Ronin sent the soldiers to escort them out. He wasn't taking any chances until he was sure that the treat had passed. A crescent moon shone weakly through the thin clouds that scudded across it.

"They aren't coming back?" Finn inquired. His legs and back were aching from standing for so long, waiting for a second attack. Ronin stood erect and alert, not once relaxing from his stance. Not for the first, Finn admired Ronin's seemingly infinite amount of patience.

"They will," the general replied. He was certain of it now; Boggans were notoriously persistent and would not have given up that fight so easily if it wasn't a part of their plan all along. Since Ronin didn't rise to the bait, they were probably readjusting their plans to attack again. That, or they have given up and gone home. _Wishful thinking._

"How do you think they kids are doing?" Finn brought him out of his thoughts.

"They should be far away and hiding by now."

His friend rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, ideally they _should_ be doing that. But let's face the facts. Both Nod and M.K. would want to be nearby to see if they could help one way or another."

Ronin chuckled. "That would be just like them. You're probably right. When this is over, we'll send search parties out to look for them."

The two old friends enjoyed a companionable silence, content with just listening to the humming crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl. The forest had a way of being active and restful at the same time at night. The music it made lulled you to near sleep then could pull you back awake in one moment. Only forest dwellers like the Leafmen, Jinn, and animals knew which sounds were normal and which were a warning for danger.

In this silence, Ronin's ears caught the tell-tale sound of metal clashing against stone, dim and faraway as it was. Finn heard it to, and they strode over to the edge and peered below the balcony, trying to locate the noise.

Ronin pinpointed the sound. It was coming from the main entrance on the ground level. Three sentries that were posted to the entrance were staring into its dark, inky depths, their weapons drawn as they tried to find the source of the noise.

A scream suddenly echoed out of the tunnel, making the hair rise on Ronin's arm. The Leafmen sentries jumped nervously.

What happened next happened so fast, that Ronin wasn't sure if he even saw anything. One moment, the sentries were ready to charge to the screamer's aid...and then next they were being pulled into the tunnel by three dark masses, like they had been swallowed up by a black mouth. Their cries were cut off abruptly by something hissing and clicking.

"Sound the alarm!" the general barked. Finn drew in breaths as he bellowed a frantic call. Moonhaven came alive with shouts.

Ronin drew his sword and was about to dash down the stairs, when a young Leafman emerged from the hall, holding a glowing lantern and breathing hard with exertion. His face was pale and streaked with sweat, his eyes wild with fear. Deep bite marks scored his breastplate like something had tried to eat his heart.

"Sir..." he panted. "The Boggans...they dug tunnels under Moonhaven...and they've got-" his words were cut off by a yelp as he was suddenly pulled off his feet and dragged back to the tunnel. Ronin dropped his sword and dived, grabbing the Leafman's hand and held it tightly, stopping him. He caught a glimpse of a white, glistening string attached to the Leafman's back trailing back into the pitch black tunnel.

Whatever was on the other end gave a violent, viscous tug. Ronin's hold broke as the hand was torn out of his grasp. The young man screamed, terrified, as he disappeared into the shadows. His voice died as something cut it off.

The old warrior couldn't stand up. He felt weak in the legs as if all his strength had been drained out of his body. The terror he witnessed on the lad's face made him sick with fear. He realized with dread that he had been the same age as Nod. That fact alone disturbed him greatly.

Finn was at his side, helping him up and retrieving his sword. "You okay, Ronin?" His voice brought the general out of his horrified daze and Ronin regained his control of his emotions. Now wasn't the time to let fear win him over, not now and not ever.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I really hope Nod actually listened to me this time."

His brother-in-arms grimaced. "Me too."

The little light they had from the crescent moon was suddenly switched off. The general's gaze darted from the tunnel to the sky, his eyes widening at the scene. Bats. Thousands of bats blocked out the moon, screeching winged rats mounted with bloodthirsty Boggans. Except this time, they didn't stay in the sky to keep the moonlight blocked, like the previous year.

This time, they attacked.

The colony of bats swept down, a black furry tsunami of sharp claws and leathery wings. The outer ring of bats rained down on the barracks and defenses surrounding Moonhaven. The inner ring spiraled into the stone palace itself, entering through the blooming chamber and hummer roost.

"Leafmen, to me!" Ronin shouted over the din. "Finn, take command of the archers, I'll lead the fliers!"

"Yes sir!"

Ronin whistled sharply and in seconds, his hummingbird heeded his call, zooming to him. Ronin flipped into the saddle, taking the reins and wasting no time in joining the melee, a war cry erupting from his lips.

Other soldiers followed his lead and the hummers converged to make a formidable force. They met the wave with clashing weapons and screeches, trying to push the bats back.

Instinct had Ronin ducking as an arrow whistled in the space his head had been. Slipping his bow from his back and nocking an arrow, he shot the Boggan that would have taken his life. His hummer slipped through the colony smoothly, like a sleek fish through a frothing river. Ronin parried every stroke dealt to him and returned in kind with fatal blows of his katana. Further he went, pushing and fighting his way up, stopping a few times to shoot arrows at any targets when he had the space.

It felt like an eternity before he broke through the cloud of bats. He had an uninterrupted scope of Moonhaven and the forest. The view was not welcoming. Bats were streaming from every crevice and opening of Moonhaven, carrying Leafmen and women. The outer defense barracks were completely overrun by the overwhelming numbers. Boggans lept from their mounts to the ground, engaging the soldiers in combat.

Ronin shot off another arrow as a Boggan came too near him for his liking. But he could feel the hopelessness set in. There were so many, twice the amount Mandrake commanded, and there were less that two hundred Leafmen to defend their home. The birds were flying valiantly, but from where he was, Ronin could see that their animilistic fear of death was winning over the control of their riders.

How were they supposed to fight so many? Yet as he looked down from his bat mount, he saw flashes of green armor and silver swords in the throng. The brave, resilient Leafmen were fighting. Living up to their name. It was that feeling when it didn't matter if you live or die; you just had to fight. Ronin's hope swelled.

And just like that, it plummeted. For now, he could see what else was overrunning Moonhaven. A carpet of black scurried from the openings, dragging white cocoons behind them like prizes. The creatures who killed the Leafman that was trying to warn him.

Spiders.

General Ronin _hated_ spiders.

"Attention all Leafmen and women," a voice boomed from below, being heard over the cacophony. "If your heroic general doesn't turn himself in and you don't surrender immediately, we'll slaughter every single last one of you."

Ronin clenched his fists in fury. A Boggan had gotten hold of the Leafmen's shell horn! It was specially designed to amplify a speaker's voice, used for communicating across a noisy battlefield. Whoever was speaking through it spoke very well, without a hint of the guttural, throaty accent of a Boggan. The seasoned Leafman bet ten out of ten that it was the Boggan's mystery leader.

Ronin kneed his bird and they dived, angling back down toward the direction of the speaker. As they neared, his bird pulled up and gently lowered down on the stone, landing on a ledge above where the horn was positioned. Ronin dove off his saddle and crawled over to the edge, looking carefully over to be sure he wasn't spotted.

"I repeat!" the voice shouted. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! General Ronin, I know you're out there."

He pressed against the stone wall as bats flew passed him and back to the sky. The colony circled the air above Moonhaven, as if watching them. Groups of Leafmen and women were back to back in defensive circles, surrounded on all sides by jeering Bogs. They had not thrown down their weapons, yet the Boggans have ceased fighting them, only watching like hungry animals.

With the bats gone, Ronin had a clear picture of the leader. He stood with his back to the warrior, straight-backed and his gloved hands holding the horn. His entire figure was covered, not an inch of skin. The hide of a black window swayed on his back, its legs dragging on the ground and dangling over his shoulders.

The Boggan spoke again. "By now, you will have realize that I, Batlash, lord of the Boggans, have with me my eight legged friends."

The spiders were crawling over the ground of the forest. White silk webs spun from their thoraxes and laced itself across the foliage. To Ronin's horror, he realized that they were building a wall around Moonhaven's pond- a wall of sticky, inescapable web.

"Ronin!" Batlash yelled again. "Surrender to me now or I'll kill them all!"

The General watched helplessly as his troops fended off the enemy. There were too many. The spiders were cutting off them off from help. He looked at the brave men and women below him, and spotted Finn among them, his face grim but determined to fight until the last drop of blood. All of them willing to fight at his command.

All that blood on his hands.

He could not have it.

His hope shriveled when the sense of defeat took over. With a heavy heart, he got to his feet and made way down to the dark figure stood upon. As he approached the self-named Batlash, Ronin rekindled a little of his hope. It was small and as weak as a candle; but it was there.

Nod, M.K., and the rose were not here. All was not lost.

Batlash didn't turn around when Ronin came up behind him. The general's hand gripped his sword hilt. The thought of plunging his blade through the Boggan's back was an enticing one, but before he could do anything, Batlash chuckled, low and mocking.

"Leafmen," he said without turning around. "You enjoy pretending that if you fight a little longer, a hero will appear and save the day. There's no one coming to help you, General." Now, Batlash did turn and Ronin saw the skull spider mask shielding his face. The Leafman couldn't see any eyes through the holes; just eight pools of black. "If I die an unnatural death, my Boggans have orders to wipe out the Leafmen. And then the Jinn."

The old warrior's hand clenched painfully on the sword hilt, his hopelessness replaced by intense hatred. He wanted nothing more than to skewer this monster's heart! But he was powerless to save his men, his home, his family. And that made him even angrier.

The Boggan lord stared at him coolly. The spider legs of his cloak swayed in the wind. The bats in the sky continued to circle Moonhaven, waiting for orders. The spiders ran rampant, scuttling over the rocks and weaving a tight, thick wall of web, encasing Moonhaven in their clutches. The Boggans and Leafmen stilled and watched the two authoritive figures, straining to here the outcome.

"Throw down your sword," Batlash ordered.

Ronin had never given up, not in his life. Not when his parents said he couldn't join the Leafmen because he wasn't good enough. Not when he looked like he wouldn't pass the final tests to join the ranks. Not when his relationship with Tara had grown more formal than it should have been when she was chosen as Queen. Not when Aaron and Liscity died. Ronin would submit but he was far from giving in.

He allowed his sword to fall out of his hands, the clang reverberating for everyone to hear. The faces of the Leafmen and women fell when they realized it was over. One by one, they let their weapons fall.

Moonhaven had fallen. The Boggans had won.

Ronin sighed and held up his hands, closing his eyes in resolution.

_I surrender. But is was far from over._

* * *

**0_o**

**so it may be another long update. school is back and ive got AP classes coupled with cross country training and meets. yippee.**

**my muse says hi ****and please review!**


	4. Who's In Charge Here?

**im sorry readers, i meant to post this chapter at the start of the week. its late because my damn teachers think im a genius and have all the time in the world to finish the assignments they hand out to me like its popcorn. seriously, its ridiculous.**

**well enuf from me. its here now so please enjoy it, and leave a review, they're more encouraging than you may think. really.**

* * *

_**Dawn, after Moonhaven is taken.**_

He ran his gloved hands down the smooth wood of the desk, taking his time to look over the room that once belonged to General Ronin. His now. His to raid and pillage at his leisure. Lord Batlash felt immense satisfaction of taking Moonhaven, the heart and soul of the forest. It was something that no Boggan leader before him had accomplished. Almost all of his plan had gone down without a hitch.

Almost.

Though he did take the stone stronghold, his Boggans were still searching for the Queen and the rose. It was the second phase to his plan. It was actually his primary goal. Taking Moonhaven was just the path to his real objective.

He waited in Ronin's former office, rifling through the drawers for anything of use. Through the walls, he could hear the other Boggans doing the same, taking anything of value and destroying the rest.

About an hour after dawn, a knock sounded on the door. "Enter," he grunted, now seated in the chair. He had stripped the desk of all its papers and was shifting through each lief, one by one.

The door opened and in walked his second-in-command. Sphagnum was brutish, even by usual Boggan standards. He towered over his brethren, including Batlash, who was slim in comparison. He only spoke when spoken to and he absolutely abhorred the Leafmen; a fact that compelled Batlash to put him in charge of the prisoners of war.

As the thought crossed his mind, Batlash asked, "How is our new toys, Sphagnum? Are they behaving themselves?"

The Boggan smiled maliciously, showing off broken, yellowing teeth. "They're all getting comfortable in the cellars, Master. They've been chained up and the leader of them cowards is being kept separate in his own quarters."

"Good. And are the spiders doing their job?"

"Yes Master, their mistress is having them weave the wall that you requested around the perimeter. Soon the whole forsaken spring will be covered in the sticky stuff."

Batlash set the papers down and cleaved his hands. "And the Queen?"

At this, Sphagnum's smile faltered and he shifted his eyes to the ground. Batlash knew the answer before he said a word. "No, my lord, there's been no sign of her." We've checked every room and have torn them apart. We went to her garden and killed every single plant but she wasn't hiding in them. We even checked for hidden passages in the walls-"

"Enough of the excuses," Batlash interrupted, not raising his voice because he didn't need to. Sphagnum immediately quieted. Batlash continued. "If she isn't in Moonhaven then she must be in the forest somewhere. She wouldn't abandon Moonhaven, even if regaining it is hopeless. What about the rose?"

"I'm having every unit check the surrounding forest floor and the flower beds around the pond. It's only a matter of time before we found where the Jinn planted it."

His lord didn't respond. He went as still as a statue, staring at Sphagnum dispassionately. Even though the brutish Boggan couldn't see his master's eyes, he felt their uncomfortable intensity.

Finally, Batlash placed his hands on the desk in exaggerated patience. "Planted?" Sphagnum looked confused at his master's manner, not quite understanding why the word 'planted' was so important.

"_Planted?!_" the Boggan Lord shouted, throwing his patient façade out the window and standing up out of his chair. "You think the blasted flower is rooted in the ground like any other horrid plant in this God-forsaken forest?! Did you not hear of the reports that we received from our scouting party only yesterday afternoon?!"

"Master, I didn't think-"

"You are my second-in-command!" Batlash snarled. "And an incompetent one at that! The rose is _planted_ on a living, moving body you fool! What's more, it's rooted to a mere boy!"

Fear made Sphagnum's knees shook. The brutish Boggan dropped to the ground and prostrated himself on the floor, hoping the submitting position would appease his lord. "Forgive me, Master!"

"Get up," he replied curtly, already tired with the conversation. "This is why you listen to the _full _report of the scouts." He paused, seeming to be thinking deeply. "But this is wasting time. Form several patrols and send them out to the forest. Tell them to find Queen Ariel and the boy. We find him, we find the rose. Get a description from one of the scouts."

Sphagnum got back on his feet, grunting in affirmation, nodding like an idiot. He went for the door to carry out the orders but stopped and turned back hesitantly. He din't want to enact Batlash's wrath with a question but he needed to know. "What should the patrols do if they come across Jinn citizens, my lord?"

Batlash grinned venomously, though that couldn't be seen from under the spider mask. "Tell them to have a field day." It was about time they began expanding their territory and redecorating the forest.

* * *

_**Present Time**_

The sun beat down on the lush land, heating the soil and glaring into the eyes on any who looked to high. Luckily, a strong wind was blowing, chasing away the heat and making the leaves rustle in the soothing sounds of spring. Birds sang their songs within the shades of the canopies, heard but not seen.

Five of the feathered creatures flew above the trees. It was not uncommon to see flocks of birds, but they were usually all the same species. However, this flock was different. A blue jay led them and following not too far behind, a bright red northern cardinal. A barn swallow dipped and skimmed above, and a robin and a mockingbird flanked their sides, all keeping a respective distance between each other.

Seven teenagers rode their mounts, the saddles laden with as much provisions they could carry without slowing their birds too much. They soared at a steady pace, heading west for the mountains. Mason, on his mockingbird named Catcall, and Ross, riding Skeeter the robin, were scanning the horizons, keeping their eyes peeled for trouble. Lex, above them on her swallow Airsnap, was watching ahead and behind the group. Nod and M.K. led the way on Flitterbite, the former being careful to keep their course. Jason sat behind Thryn on the cardinal. The girl was watching the trees below them, while Jason gazed about in amazement.

The landscape in which he was born and grew up in looked completely foreign to him while flying on the back of a bird. And it was beautiful; everything was bright green in the sun, with dashes of different shades in between. The meadows were golden, splattered with blue, white, and pink wildflowers. The creeks and ponds glittered silver from the reflecting light rays, almost blinding to look at.

As the wind rippled through his short, blond hair, Jason thought back to only yesterday. He had woken up, thinking it was a normal Sunday with a soccer match and lunch with his family later on. He had even planned to meet his friends at their favorite diner before catching a movie. The new releases that had been out months before had finally reached the little theater, the only theater in town. Jason cringed when he remembered that he had math homework that he had planed to finish up on Sunday night (something he could have done Saturday but like many teenagers, had blown it off until last minute).

It was all ordinary. Just another ordinary day of an average teenage boy in a small town, doing small town things in a far-flung corner of America. That's how all his days went and yesterday was no different.

Until he followed a girl into a forest and got shrunk to two inches by weird magic. And that escalated to discovering a whole society thriving in the forest, secret from all of humanity; and they fought an unseen war against destructive forces in the form of Boggans.

Earlier that day, when the teens witnessed the trees turn to empty husks, they concluded that Ronin had failed to protect Moonhaven and the Boggans were running amok. Bomba went into a panic, flying to the kitchen and bringing out more food, dumping it on the table next to the computer screens. The tiny teenagers had to run to avoid rolling fruits and vegetables. M.K. had to yell to get his attention.

"Dad, calm down! What're you doing?!" she cried.

Luckily, the professor still had his helmet on. He wrung his hands and fearfully kept glancing out the window. "You and your friends need to leave before the Boggans come inside!"

The red-head was dumbfounded. "What? That makes no sense! Why would they come in our house? We're Stompers; they stay away from us!"

"They're looking for me," Nod put in, holding out the arm the rose rested upon. "They want the rose."

"And they're acting totally nuts," Thryn called over. She was standing against the window pane, peering out as she watched the trees die and the birds fly away. "The Boggans are going wild with the rotting; they'd only do that if their leader gave them permission."

"And if they were able to take over Moonhaven," Lex added. "Then their new commander must be good. Really good."

"They're close to your house as it is. They don't care if you're Stompers," Thryn replied, grimly. "I bet they'll come in any way."

"We have to leave!" Bomba exclaimed. "We can't be here when they gather up the courage to break in!"

With that being said, they called their birds down from the attic. Bomba sliced up the food, making it as small as possible and they crammed as much as they could into the packs and saddle bags. Bomba filled up their canteens at the faucet, fumbling with the doll-sized containers.

"I can't stay either," Bomba exclaimed to M.K. He wanted to sooth his daughter, for she was obviously under distress at the prospect of leaving their house to the Boggans. "I'll take my research and I'll head for town. I can stay in the Shady Grove Motel for a few days."

M.K. didn't look comforted much. Bomba gently stroked his finger on her tiny head; petting her hair calmingly if she had been her normal size. "Everything will be fine. I promise."

M.K. was near tears but she kept up her best tough act. She hugged her father's thumb and Bomba smiled sadly "Besides, maybe they won't even come into the house," he suggested, a sad smile on his face.

"Maybe," she murmured quietly. "Be safe, Dad."

She joined Nod on Flit, who was waiting by the open window. The teenagers exited out of the other side of the house where the Boggans wouldn't see them. Bomba stuck his head out to watch them leave, Ozzie wiggling next to him excitedly, completely oblivious to the situation.

He called up to them, "Take care of my little girl, Nod!" Ozzie barked in affirmation, wagging his butt.

Nod chuckled, which prompted a punch in the shoulder from the red-head. "I get the feeling she'll be taking care of me!" he shouted back. M.K. rolled her eyes.

Everything was happening so fast, Jason didn't have any time to feel nervous or out of his element. Even now, his surroundings were distracting him from the gravity of their predicament. Sitting behind Thryn, flying high over the hills and forests, he watched the familiar but somehow different landscape pass below them.

"How does the Stomper phrase go? Oh, yeah. If your mouth gets any lower, you'll catch flies," Thryn commented. She had peered over her shoulder to see Jason's mouth gaped with wonder.

The blonde was startled for a second before he laughed. "Ha ha, I bet at this size, the flies would simply crash into me and knock me off."

"That has happened to some riders, as ridiculous as it sounds," she grinned in amusement. Then she glanced away and her eyes got a faraway look, like her mind had wings of its own. "It's quite beautiful up here, isn't it?"

"It is," he agreed. "You've probably flown this high thousands of times."

"Still, it never fails to amaze me." They fell silent, both of them enraptured by the view. Jason's blue eyes wandered up to the blue sky, where they lit upon Nod and M.K. riding the huge blue jay ahead of them.

He felt a twinge of jealously when he saw M.K.'s arms around Nod's torso, her head resting on the back of his shoulder. They looked comfortable with each other. A blind guy could see that they were more than friends. Jason tried to shake away the melancholy feeling. He didn't want to be jealous, but he really couldn't help it. The blonde was aware that there were more than a few girls in school that were pining for his attention and some would fight tooth and nail for it.

But M.K. was different from the rest of them; when she talked to him; it wasn't outright admiration or an obvious display of getting his attention. She talked to him like he was just a normal guy, respecting his privacy and space. He let other girls cling to his arms and squeal with delight because he didn't want to be a jerk. It was refreshing and nice to just convese with a female without having them acting like fangirls. M.K.'s collected, respectful demeanor was what made him like her in the first place.

_Figures,_ he thought. The only girl that he actually liked more than a friend, and she was already in a relationship with some other guy. Lady Luck did not favor him at the moment.

Jason quit staring at the pair, lest he started stewing his thoughts in bad feelings and returned to gazing at the bird's eye view of the world.

After another five minutes of flying, Ross spurred his bird until he was flying along with Flitterbite. "Hey, Nod! How much farther do we have to go?"

"Until we can find a good hiding place."

"Well, that narrows it down," came Ross's sarcastic bite.

Nod shrugged evasively. "We'll know it when we'll see it."

"Why not we take a break?" Thryn suggested. "Give our birds some time to forage and hunt while we figure out a real plan."

"Over there looks like a good place," Lex said and everybody looked to where she pointed. Of in the distance ahead were clusters of human houses, these ones not as big or old-looking as M.K.'s home. They nestled in the foothills of the mountain range, with small, manicured plots of grass behind each house. There were only a few, good trees to hide in.

"It looks too exposed," Nod commented.

"It's a neighborhood. Lots of people live there, so it should be pretty safe from curious Boggans," M.K. informed.

"It looks like a good place. Let's go," Thryn said.

"Race ya!" Nod shouted gleefully, tapping his feet to Flitterbite's side. The blue jay chirped and shot down, M.K. clutching Nod's torso for dear life.

There was a three-second delay and then Thryn's cardinal raced to catch up. Jason yelped at the sudden speed, his arms instinctively wrapping around Thryn's stomach to hang on. He felt her tense and his cheeks burned with embarrassment but he did not let go.

The flock fell out of the sky, Thryn and Nod in the lead. The birds were neck and neck, both pumping their wings so fast it made Jason dizzy to try watching it. They shrieked challenges at each other. M.K. laughed and Nod grinned like a maniac. _Adrenaline junkies, the both of them!_ Jason thought.

They were flying above the houses in no time, and only then did they slow down. The birds huffed for breath. Jason relaxed his grip on Thryn, however he was still on edge. He liked it better when they were flying at a more leisure speed.

Thryn winced and rubbed her stomach. He must have held on tighter than he realized. "Sorry," he amended quickly.

"It's okay. I should have given you a warning."

"C'mon slow pokes!" Nod shouted back to the others. They were still several wingbeats behind.

When the other caught up, Nod steered Flitterbite to a small maple tree residing in the far corner of someone's fenced backyard. The birds landed on a wide, low branch, hidden from the sky by a thick canopy. The teens unbuckled and removed the saddles, signaling to their mounts they were free to fly around. The robin, mockingbird, and swallow flitted away to hunt bugs and find seeds and berries. However, Flitterbite and the cardinal seem content to stay by their riders sides.

The teens plopped down on the branch, their bodies weary from being in the saddle for an hour. Jason began stretching his legs to remove the stiffness and listened as the others talked about places to hideout at.

Ross unfurled a map he had snagged from his hollow before they left. "This is the only one I could find that has the land outside of Leafman territory. I don't know how up-to-date it is. It looks fairly new, so it can't be too unreliable."

"Then we have to be here," Nod said, placing a finger on a bunch of little squares near the center of the map. "We passed the outer creeks and the hills, and Oak Valley lies to the southeast now."

"Are you aiming for the mountains?" Lex inquired.

Nod's posture slumped a little. He looked unsure. "I don't know what I'm aiming for. On the one hand, we can't stay in the area with the Boggans looking for us. But on the other, I want to keep nearby. Maybe we can rescue Ronin and the Leafmen and free Moonhaven."

"Impossible," Thryn said, cutting off the budding idea. "By now, they would have set up a perimeter and have gotten a grip on the Jinn lands in the vicinity. We're only seven kids. We should head for the mountains, it'll be safe there."

"No," Nod argued. "I'm not abandoning Ronin or Moonhaven."

Lex added softly. "He may not even be alive."

"Then we at least need to check!"

"Nod," M.K. stepped in. "This rose is supposed to save the forest, like the pod did last year, right?" He nodded to confirm, the others leaning in to hear where she was going with this. "Then we need to learn how it works. If its got the power then we shouldn't abandon Moonhaven or Ronin."

"I'll I have is an old journal from the Rings of Knowledge," he replied. "It only gave me some background, nothing on how the rose works or what I need to do with it. The Queen doesn't know either."

"But she can help us get back our home," Mason jumped in, the glint of an idea in his eyes. When Mason had an idea, his imagination ran wild with, sometimes so wild that it defied logic or reason. He went, gesticulating with his hands excitedly. "With Ariel, our chances of taking down the Boggans increase tenfold! I say we find her, take back Moonhaven, and worry about this rose mystery afterwards."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mason," Thryn warned. "Controlling the rose's power may be more important than going to war. I want Moonhaven back too, but if we're to solve this, we need to keep the rose safe. My vote is with the mountains."

Ross joined in. "I didn't want to leave Moonhaven in the first place, so I'm with Mason on this one."

"Of course you are," Thryn muttered angrily under her breath. Ross's sharp ears caught it and he opened his mouth to retort.

Lex saw it coming and interjected. "Guys, if you keep fighting like that, nothing's going to get done. We need to work as a team."

"We're casting votes aren't we?" Ross argued and he turned to Thryn and said in a snide tone, "And its two against one right now."

"Shouldn't Nod have the final say?"

All eyes turned to Jason, who had sat quietly on the side up until this point. He hadn't meant to insert himself in the conversation since he still felt like he didn't have a right to his two cents. But the statement left his mouth before he could fully think about it. Yet the notion seemed perfectly logical to him.

"I mean he's the one with the all-powerful flower on his arm," he explained. "The Boggans are after him specifically. Nod's the one in the most danger, so shouldn't he get to decide what we should do or where we should go?"

They were all silent as they thought it over. Then, all eyes flicked from Jason to Nod. The teen didn't meet their gaze, only stared at the rose that coiled peacefully on his arm like it would give him the answers he wanted. He felt increasingly uncomfortable with everyone's dependence on his choice. _Is this how Ronin feels every time he needs to make decisions? Maybe that's why he's so stiff and unamused all the time. This is stressful._

Nod took in a deep breath. In his heart, he knew what he wanted, even though his mind was telling him the opposite. "We're going to-"

A sudden chill racked his body, turning his muscles to ice and his blood cold. He gasped, more in surprise than in pain, though it caused an uncomfortable twinge in his chest. The rose uncoiled itself and thorns pricked out of its stem, like it was ready to attack.

But as suddenly as the feeling came, it dissipated just as fast. The rose relaxed slightly and Nod shuddered and gasped, his limbs shaking. He felt hands grabbing his arms to keep him from teetering over.

"Nod, M.K., are you alright?!"

"What's the matter?"

"You looked like you've seen a ghost!"

"You felt that to?" Nod asked M.K. She was also shaking slightly, hunched over and her green irises wide with astonishment.

"Yeah," she replied shakily. "It's like something passed through our bodies."

"What the hell is that?!"

Ross's shout broke them out of their shock and they followed his pointing finger. On the grass in the middle of the lawn, leaves were being lifted from the ground and were twirling in a perfect circle, dancing on the air. Except no wind was blowing.

In the center of the spinning leaves, a form took shape, materializing out of thin air. _Wait a minute, _Nod thought as he studied it a bit longer. _It's not coming out of the air...it's made of air!_ Not only was it made of air but it had the familiar form of a bird.

"M.K.!" Jason cried. "It's the wind bird again!"

"That's the wind bird?" Nod gasped, astonished. "What does it want?"

"Probably wants us to follow it again," M.K. replied. Sure enough, the blurry shape flapped its wings and skimmed across the lawn, sending fallen leaves in an updraft. It paused and turned around to see if they were heeding its call.

Nod's curiosity peaked and he grabbed Flit's reins. "C'mon, let's go!"

"It's probably a spirit," Ross argued. "And you don't wanna mess with spirits."

"It helped us out before," M.K. replied. "And Queen Tara sent it. Maybe it'll lead us to Ariel this time."

"We should give it a try."

But before any of them could do anything, Flitterbite's feathers flattened against his body, the bird's way of displaying fear. Thryn's cardinal suddenly flew off with a fearful trill; Flit followed, bolting from the branch so fast he nearly took Nod with him, who was still holding his reins. They were jerked from his fingers and the teen nearly teetered off the branch, before M.K. gripped his shoulders and steadied him. The birds disappeared into the trees on the opposite side of the lawn.

"Flit!" Nod whistled twice but the jay did not come. The others tried their own bird's whistles with the same disappointing results.

"What's the matter with them?" Ross grumbled.

Jason was beginning to feel uneasy, like his surroundings had suddenly become threatening. The hairs stood on end on the back of his neck, sending uncomfortable prickles down his spine. He knew something was behind him and it spelled danger. Slowly, he turned around, fear increasing with every second. When he was normal, he would have shaken off the feeling and called himself paranoid. But he was tiny; everything was bigger than him. He had a right to be scared.

What he saw froze him to the spot. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, he was too scared to. But something niggled in his mind and he was able to croak a few words. "G-guys... th-there's something...you should s-see..."

Their mutterings fell into silence as they turned around, all of them freezing in place like Jason. Huge, glowing green eyes stared at them with slitted black pupils. The eyes were surrounded by shiny, black fur, long whiskers, and a pink tongue licking its muzzle, revealing sharp, white teeth that could kill them all with little effort.

A deep growl rose from the cat's throat and its ears flattened, the fur bristling on its neck and back. It looked angry at the sight of them.

It looked hungry.

* * *

**i know. im an ass to give you a cliff hanger like that. review anyway. PLEASE?**


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